Talk:1773: Negativity

2016-12-21T16:14:06Z

162.158.91.171:

Any chance that 'the pain and negativity of the internet' is a reference to [http://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/the-talk-4 this recent SMBC comic] where SMBC's artist Zach challenges Randall to 'out-nerd him now' (seen when you click the red button just below the comic).
I've been wondering whether the first XKCD after that (that is: today's XKCD comic) would refer to it.
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.173|141.101.104.173]] 14:55, 16 December 2016 (UTC)
: I kinda doubt it. SMBC wasn't being "negative" or objectionable - if anything it was a challenge - and even a kind of complement. An adequate response to that kind of a challenge might take longer than a few days to prepare. If we're going to see anything in response, I suspect it'll be more obvious. [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 14:02, 17 December 2016 (UTC)
:: We better be seeing a string theory joke sometime in the next week... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.226|108.162.216.226]] 02:38, 19 December 2016 (UTC)
::: [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=171 Here you go.] [[Special:Contributions/162.158.122.126|162.158.122.126]] 12:55, 19 December 2016 (UTC)
:: @SteveBaker That was my doubt too. Looking forward to an adequate response from Randall though :) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.173|141.101.104.173]] 07:44, 19 December 2016 (UTC)

This article mentions XKCD number 1749 as involving "talking to inanimate organisms", but nobody talks to the mushroom in that strip. Neither does the mushroom talk to them, it merely growls. [[User:Ajfaraday|Ajfaraday]] ([[User talk:Ajfaraday|talk]]) 09:41, 21 December 2016 (UTC)
: I would object to "inanimate". Things are inanimate, and well, maybe dead organisms; but a growling and talking organism is obviously alive.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.171|162.158.91.171]] 16:14, 21 December 2016 (UTC)

1763: Catcalling

2016-11-24T07:39:50Z

162.158.91.171: /* Explanation */ added references to comics saying the world is programmed in perl

{{comic
| number = 1763
| date = November 23, 2016
| title = Catcalling
| image = catcalling.png
| titletext = Effect strength => [unstoppable] | Effect range => [2 miles] | Effect duration => [1 year]
}}

==Explanation==
"{{w|Street harassment|Catcalling}}" refers to the act of whistling or shouting to attract the attention of an attractive woman, and in some cultures carries connotations of harassment. Annoyed by this practice, Megan alters the Universe Control Console to create a setting in which catcalling actually attracts cats (as the name implies), thus resulting in the catcaller being harassed by the overwhelming feline presence, instead of the other way around, likely in an attempt to discourage the act.

The "Universe Control Console" was introduced in [[1620: Christmas Settings]] as the "Universe Control Panel", where it was used to control aspects of reality related to Christmas. Based on the name, it is presumed all aspects of reality could be altered using this fictitious device. The pointer arrow and menu options shown above Megan appear to depict aspects of the user interface that Megan is seeing.

Furthermore, the title text suggests that catcalling now calls ''all'' cats within two miles for an entire year. This would encourage people to stop catcalling altogether to prevent being piled in cats from a 2 mile radius for a year. [[1156: Conditioning]] also persuades people to change behavior related to wildlife.

Also, the title text suggests that the Universe Control Console runs on the Perl programming language. This relates to comics [[224: Lisp]] and [[312: With Apologies to Robert Frost]] where it is suggested that the "source code" of the universe is a mixture of perl and lisp, leaning toward the perl side.

The redefining of terms related to sexual harassment as more innocent things has also been discussed in [[1178: Pickup Artists]].

Notably the cursor on the console is left-handed.

==Transcript==
:Offscreen: "''Hey! Are you messing with the Universe Control Console!?''"

:Megan: [standing at a control panel with a small lever and what appears to be a display] "It's cool. Just gotta fix one thing."

:[Megan still at the control panel; now a mouse pointer appears]

:[Megan still at the control panel; "Catcalling" appears written at the top of the panel above a dropdown menu that says "Harasses women"; the pointer is hovering over the arrow]

:[Megan still at the control panel; The dropdown menu is expanded to show two elements: "Harasses women" and "Attracts cats". The pointer is hovering over "Attracts cats", which is highlighted]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1773: Negativity

1763: Catcalling